MERIDIAN CENTRE OPENING...

I am very late to the party on this, but as its the dog days of summer, and the OHL schedule has really yet to come out, this article on the opening of the Meridian Centre on October 2nd with the first hockey game as Niagara hosts Mississauga, ironically the same opponent that the IceDogs faced in their first ever regular season home game here in St Catharines. 

(Article is here by the way) http://localsportsreport.com/niagaraicedogs/2014/06/07/693/

It will be a busy start for the arena as there is hockey on the 2nd and 4th and a special opening concert with an act to be named.    Then again what better way to showcase the fact that this is an entertainment facility AND a hockey arena?   Guess we will get our first look at exactly how the arena turn around will go right off the bat as there will be a fair amount of legwork needed to turn the place from a concert venue to a hockey venue in 24 hours.   

More importantly, lots of rumours swirling as to who will open the new facility and be the headline act.   Names such as Elton John, the Dixie Chicks and Brian Adams made the round.  Heck, maybe a cruel joke will be played on us all and it will be the bland, generic repetiveness of Nickelback.  How about Honeymoon Suite, with its Niagara roots and theme, even though Wave Babies might rank up there now for political incorrectness in a video simply for the scene in which they dump cold water on the topless sunbathers to cop a view.   

It would be nice if the act was Canadian, but not mandatory.  Given the realistic confines of the arena my vote would go for KISS, who did play GMC in Oshawa, or Tragically Hip, whose popularity spans all ages.  Plus, if its KISS, maybe you will get to see the TV Cogeco Crew in full kiss make-up!! Sorry, Al Galloway, you get Peter Criss :-)   

There will be a tremendous buzz in the area when as October 2nd,  3rd and 4th approaches.   The arena, if you check out the web cams, is really taking shape and the amenities make it a first class arena.  Weight rooms, big coaches office, TV friendly lighting and sitelines.  This arena seems to have it all.    Couple that with an IceDog team that could have 6 players drafted to the NHL, and it could be a fun fall and winter in the Garden City. 

Now about that opening act.  Gowan?  Leonard Cohen?  Anne Murray out of retirement?  The sky is the limit! Just no Bieber, no Drake and no Nickelback...

Steve Clark

OJ...20 YEARS LATER

20 years ago today 21 year old me settled to watch my beloved (at the time) NY Knicks and Patrick Ewing try to take down Akeen Olajuwon's Houston Rockets in the NBA Final...until it was pre-empted for the now infamous low speed Bronco chase involving the LAPD and OJ Simpson. Simpson was turn himself in for questioning after the brutal double homicide of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ron Goldman. His actions, even before this bizarre spectacle, curious to say the least.   

Even then I remember how ridiculous it was to see people waving at him over bridges and holding Go OJ signs when it was the aftermath of a brutal double homicide. The other thing I can vividly recall thinking to myself was that there was never going to be another Naked Gun movie, which was about as random as it bets.

The trial was a sad spectacle of justice and misdirected accusations of race, and dreadful performances by most of the lawyers, some of whom like Marsha Clark and Chris Darden cashed in their miserable performances for jobs in the media, or as authors as everyone wanted a fleeting piece of fame.

It was fodder for late night TV with Jay Leno being the worst offender with his parody of Dancing Ito's that poked fun at the inept Judge Lance Ito.  Kato Kaelin drew laughter in open court for his cluelessness as a witness, even though he was key in the pursuit of justice.   Johnny Cochrane's theatrics that went unchecked by the courts.  Chris Darden and Marcia Clark's inept lawyering and making OJ try on a glove that had obviously shrunk. 

A condemnation of cameras in the courtroom at its best and a gong show to justice at its worse.  The final straw may have been a jury that lacked any sense of logical thinking by buying into faux racism while being too stupid to understand the basics of DNA evidence.  

20 years later, after religiously following the case on CNN, and reading several books on the case, can't say that the public perception of the justice system has changed as HLN does a deplorable job of sensationalizing tragedy like Trayvon Martin, Casey Anthony and the Steubenville rape trial to name a few.

20 years later people do not forget the OJ Simpson chase and trial.I found myself reading updates on the main characters, a term I use because this played out like a bad TV movie.  I found I did not care what happenedo to Kato Kaelin, Marcia Clark, Chris Darden or F Lee Bailey. I cared about the victims and 20 years later they are still dead, faded names from the last.   Sadly, they did not get the same tribute.  Their names, by the way, were Ronald Goldman and Nicole Brown Smith and they died in horrific fashion. Remember them when you look back to 20 years ago today.